Zero-Click Spyware From Little-Known Israeli Company Targeted iPhones in Ten Countries

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Photo by Gilles Lambert on Unsplash

Researchers at Citizen Lab and Microsoft say that hacking tools sold by little-known Israeli vendor QuaDream, which markets its zero-click spyware under the name “Reign,” have been used to break into the iPhones of journalists and political opposition figures by silently exploiting Apple iPhone software.

They say that the company’s software essentially granted assailants full surveillance capabilities over a user’s device, including the ability to record phone calls, capture photos and read messages. QuaDream’s software was as sophisticated as better-known NSO Group’s and took pains to obscure its fingerprints in computer code deployed on infected devices.

Although Citizen Lab was unable to obtain the software used to attack the iPhone, they said they were able to draw some conclusions by examining the digital evidence left on at least five previously hacked phones, along with two samples of the spyware provided by Microsoft. The researchers determine…